Hand brake for railway cars



c. E. DA1-H HAND BRAKE FOR RAILWAY CARS March 30 1.926.'

Filed June 2 Patented Mar. 30, 1926.

CHARLESE. DAT-H, or eiioeeo, iLLiiveis, essie-NOR, Bris/issue Assieme-Eure, 'ro' 1 W. H. MINiie, ING., erceureimrieiv, ofr-nELAWeiaEL HAND BRAKE FOR RAILWAY VGARS.

einem fied' Julie 2121924; @dei No; mii@- l To all whom may] concern.:

Be it known thatv L, Ci-iliiinns BATH, a citizen 'of the United States, residing at Chiede@ ie the @natif df Geek iid-State! i of lllinois, have invented a certain new and,

useful Improvement ini Hand Bralgesoif Railvvay Cars, of ivhi'clithe following is. a full, clear, vvconcise, and exact description, reference being h ad to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

hand brakes for railway cars.V i Such` invention is broadly directedt9 Viinprovenieiits in handl brakes lforrziilivzay cars of the mail and baggage type, iii which the brakes are usually located ou theend Walls of the car, aiidrarrangcd. so that they may be operatedl either 'troni the interior or theexterior V of Asaid car, such*V operating ineans usually including a depending lever lin interior `of the car, and a siinilar lever ou the outside of ear.i "liiiiailway cars of this ldiesoriptioi'i,the spaee available orthe 5 operation vof the brake lever in the interior of the c ai very limited, especially because 0f th disposition 0f .beatles @Oils and @their iiitures adjacent the lever, sol .that efficient v operation ythereof is rendered very ,difficult 3 and even dangerous, the operative strolre .of

the ,lever beide* @Ward die Slide-ved Oi" the car, and the hands of the operator. very fre quently are brought into Contact with the heating ooi ls,or. strike against adjaeiit portions of the ear.

The principal object-.of `this invention :is

t0. provide operating ineaiis for the bi-alte.'

which entirely eliminate 4 the disadvantages iideni: ttie Constructie@ fhefeifere used,-

40 and more specitically,4 provide v nieaiis, liii-` cludiiig a pa-itiuzar type of lever, disposed in a icrxiaiinei' freely accessible to the 'operator v vithoiit Iaivlivvarchiess, or incur-ring the ldanger of striking his hands againstthe heating pipes, or parts of the car, the lever being disposed .at a point removed 'frein the heating coils and being movable on its operative stroke away troni the side ivall'of the car toward the unobstructed center portiony of the car. v

Another object of the invention to provid@ a brake devof sthedlereder with 21 ddiielidns leveren die' Outside 0f tli Cer .fior operatirg the brake, arid an Vup standing This inveiitioiijielates to iiiiproveinents in e hand .biel

leid' Odtlidiiedfof die er for this pdrf pose, this construction having the advantage dei@ it dffedsthe mest efficient dispiositioil @weide @fille Cer,- Y

@ther 4Obiels- @ed advantages 0f the irl.-

of the levers-fbi" o1ieifatioii, both insideuaiid ventioii y'xvill more clearly ppear ltroni the description and elainis hereinafter following. In diedrevwestermine a part of this Siieiicatioi, Figur@ l een elevational vievi of outer Aend :of a brake mechanism adapted to be operatedeithei from the out? Sid@ er inside @t the ser, illustrating a Perf Heider' type 0f @Weinig 1mi-21 associated therewith.. Figure 21s a side elevational Yv ieiv of the structure shown in vFigure 1,;

Wall oir-a` c.ar, tlie end Wall being shown partly brel-ien avvii-Y dedie ,vertical-section; f'

and the loefioi .of the usual Steam heating coils. beingsliown Vin dotted` lines. vFigure k3 is anielei'atienal view of the inner .end of the brake iiiecliaifiii ill-usf tifated in Figure 2.: Shovns livin-riddim type. efeveriiopf eitive residen idfidl lilies and at .the llimit of de @remt-1re eieveieeet in; dotted lines the side Wall ofthe car being 'indicated ,diaf

sfammatiallyi "Figure d iS a horiaontah iid ivallof the inailV thegre'if,` are the :usual steam vcoils @ns1-nee i of" the icar., the saine j being-ol .that y type which is adaptedL for loperation troni either the yinside orthe. outside ofthe carfg'- .1

:. iiieehaiiisiii A,of welllijnoivn is i'nounte'don the end Wall l0 Thebralreirieehanisin A includes an outer ldisils ildielid ,an einer bedside The outer housing, is provided Wit-li the usual ioo ,wiudingzdruiii l16, havingmounted thereon a ratchet Wheel 17, c'o. operatigng with a spring'pressed paivl. 1 6, which' is adapted to beldduaiedxbi"means ,0f the releasing lever 19,k Aii operatinglever 20 Iis provided which is pivotally .Sedi-sedes at 21 t0 flie- 22, which is arrangedto Swing about the axis of the ratchetwheel 17, a slot 23 being provided in the edge of the 'housing 14 as shown in 1, to permit the swinging action of the lever 20, The lever 2U hasa portion 24 on its innerend, provided with a tooth 25 foro engagement with the ratchet wheel 17 ,f and the portion 24 has an extension 26 which reaches: beyond i the Vupper end of the slot'23, such extension` serving as a stopto limit the'downward swinging of the-lever to a position Ywhere the tooth 25 is vheld'out yof engagement with the vratchetlwl'ieel 17 by the weight of the KVlever, and it is here pointed out that `the slot 23 also serves to limit the upward movement of the lever 20, so that the saine will "always return to its normally idepending position byfgravity. 'a

The housing 15 is also provided witha ratchet wheel 2 7,jconnected with vthe drum 16 through the ymedium ofthe .shaft 28, which extends through the wall and the' housing as shown. A lever 29 is mounted in the housing-upon the v(shaft 29', which extends throughthe wall 1() into the hous-l ing 14,r this being the shaft 'which carries the pawl 18, so that a movement of the lever 29 willoperatefsuch pawl in the same manner asv movement-"ol v the lever 19. In connection with the foregoing description, reference maybe had'toPatent No. 1,240,324

i' granted to William Dwyer, September 18,

1,917, as thisiinvention contemplates van im"-Y `proved type of construction shown in` this patent,-utilivzing the -mechanism above described in combination with novel means or'overcoming. defects incident to the type of-brake shown in such patent.

It will be observed V'that thelever 29 is v oppositely disposed with respect to the lever f 19, this being for the purpose ,of affording a more convenient meansfor releasing the `pawl 18, and to mount the lever out of the way of operating mechanism hereafter described. l

,- A link 30 is mounted in the housing 15 in yposition to swing `about the axis of the ratchet .vheel27 in the samefmanneras the link 22, and pivotally connected to the link k30r asiat 3l', is a lever 32, adapted toswingj with the link 30, there being aslot .33k in the housing 15 to permitgthis swinging move-vv ment.

34, having a tooth 35 for engagement with fthe ratchet wheel 27, and an eX'tension'36 yprojecting beyond the upper end of the slot Y 33,' to provide a stop to limit the downward `movement. of the lever.

y The lever 32 has a portion 37 extending-at an vangle thereto as shown, and then having an inclined portion 38 extending'.substantially in thepdirection of the ratchet operating yportion 34, 'and having a handle portion 39 turned inwardly toward the ratchet portion 34.A The rEhe levei1 32 is provided at its inner end witha ratchet operating portion or arm angular portion 3,7. of the lever is long turn bygravity to its normally inoperativev Y position as shown when released. Y Y.

To voperate the brakes from the outside ot the car :the hand grip vat the `ireefend" ol' the lever 20 is grasped, and .thesame' oscillated` 'thereby swinging `the lever 2O and the link 22, 'thus kbringing the tooth 25.V into engagement with the ratchetV wheel 17' andV rotating the drum 16 to 'tighten the brakes; Upon release of suoli lever it will return to inoperative position by itsown weight, releasing the tooth 25 from engageV` mentjwith the ratchet.V AThe lever 20 is thus normally in a ldepending position so that the saine is in the most advantageous ppof sition for operation `from the voutside kot.

the cai'. It will be observed that the movement of the lever 2Gcn its operative stroke is toward thefsidc wall ll'of the car, attention being called to this 'tact when consid` ering the movement Lof theflev'er 32. Thisl lever upon the inside offthe car-isl held in a normally upstanding position, and its op erative'stroke is away from the side wall of the car towardy the center thereoisuch stroke of thev lever serving to engage the tooth 35 with .the ratchet wheel to rotate the drum 16 and tighten the brakes, the movement of such lever being limited by the upper end' of the slot 33, so that when. thev lever is released, it will fall to inoperajtive position Lby gravity, thereby disengag-` ing the tooth 35 from the ratchet.

Bythe above described arra'ngementit will be understood that the operating lever 2O on the outside ofthe car is normally in a depending position, Aand its operative stroke is; toward the sidewvaltoi thetcar, whichris the vmost eliticient strokewhen the lbrake is operated from outside"v ofthe car.

'ldfhile the lever 32 on the inside of the car is normally in upstandingposition andiremoved from the heating pipes,and its'operative stroke is away from the wall'of the car ,toward the center thereof,so that the pathoi movement of the lever is entirely unobstructedl and a maximum amount-of force can be applied'thereto without assuming 'an awkward position; and iinallybothin fullflin'es in Fig. 3,"k Y' levers returnV to normally inoperative'position through gravity.

/Vhile I have herein shown and described what I now consider the preferred manner of carrying out the invention, the saine is 1" merely illustrative and I contemplate all changes and modifications that come Within the scope ot the claims appended hereto.

I claim: y

l. In a construction of the character de.- sciibed, the combination `with a railway car having side and end walls, there being obstructions along said side wall suoli as steam pipes, said end wall beingvequipped with a hand brake of the inside and outside type and comprising a rotatable shaft extending through said wall and being provided with a winding drum, and ratchet wheels adjacent the inner and'outer ends 'of said rotatable member,v said ratchet wheels being movablein a clockwise direction withreference to said side wall to wind the brake chain on said drum, said brake being' provided with inner and outer housings having openings on their under sides to permit access to said ratchet wheels; of a depending lever arranged at the outer side of said end wall and having pawl means adapted to rotate said ratchet wheel to wind said brakechain when nioved'in a direction toward the plane of said side wall; and a'continuous lever on the inside of said car, extending through the opening at the bottom of the inside housing, said lever beingl inclined upwardlybetween the side wall and adjacent housing to clear the obstructions on the side wall, said lever being accessible above said housing and having pawl means associated therewith adapted to rotate the inside ratchet wheel to wind' the chain when the lever is'moved in a direction away from the plane ofsaid side wall.

2. In a hand brake mechanism of the inside and outside type, comprising inner and outer housings, and a rotatable member ex-` tending into said housings and having similarly disposed ratchet wheels thereon' adjacent its opposite ends, said rotatable mein ber having means providing a winding drum, and said inner and outer housings having openings at the under sides thereof permitting access to the ratchet wheels; of a lever` extending into tliepopening in the under side ot one ot said housings and having pawl` means adapted to rotate the related ratchet f wheel to wind the chain when moved in a direction away from a verticalplane extending through and coincident with said' rotat` able member; and a curved leverextending into the opening on the under side' of the other of said housings, said lever havingA pawlmeans adapted t0 rotate the related ratchet to wind the chain when said latter lever is moved in a ldirection toward Said vertical plane. v f

3. In a hand brake mechanism, .the coinbination with a winding drum; of means for' rotating` said drum to effect application ot' the brakes, said means including a ratchet member rotatable about a horizontal axis; and a pivoted, toothed operating member oo l forA said ratchet member, said operating member being swingable about said hori- Zontal axis, the toothed portion of said o 3- f' and effect 'winding ofthe drum and movable in a reverse direction to disengage the toothed portion from said ratchet member;V

and stopy means for limiting the-range of movement Vof said lever in both directions. and servingto dispose the majorportionlof said lever above the pivotal laxis thereof during said entire range ot v movemeiit,' e whereby the weight ofsaid lever when re- "f leased effects disengagement of said toothed portion from said ratchetvmember.4v i

Inwitness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 20th day of June 1924.`

CHARLES E. DATH. 

